(Storage) SSD Discussion Thread

[ivancen]

i using vista 64, fully patched. yes got stuttering, only happened after the did the disabling prefetch, etc etc recommended. before that was totally no prob, so yah, the efect was immediate once i change settings. yup on latest firmware and used wiper5025. TRIM probably enabled, from wat i read in forums, and i also try to logoff and let it idle for few hours before wiper but does not stop this prob. damn, is it only me? i'm using 120Gb version.

 

[ivancen]

and oh yah, i din align, vista no need also rite?

 

[mizumi]

Yes, should be fine. You could try enabling back Superfetch as there are some first gen SSDs that had severe random write and flush problems which led to disk reads being blocked for long periods of time. Or if you want to set it diffferently to only fetch boot files you could go to the link below and check out how it's done.

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/20050-post2.html

 

[snipes14]

Heard that both Intel and Kingston just released a new line of value SSDs. Found on Ebay the Kingston one is 99 USD. Which probably means about $150 Singapore dollars. Anyone knows when it will be available here?

 

[t258jgn]

Heard that both Intel and Kingston just released a new line of value SSDs. Found on Ebay the Kingston one is 99 USD. Which probably means about $150 Singapore dollars. Anyone knows when it will be available here?

Convergent is Kingston Distro.

You won't see this kind of prices in SG if available. Most probably will be S$200+

 

[snipes14]

Convergent is Kingston Distro.

You won't see this kind of prices in SG if available. Most probably will be S$200+

Still better than the prices we have now Won't be long before it drops to below $200 levels. Can't wait!

 

[zax13]

SOME ITEMS I FOUND ON THE NET IF YOU ARE INSTALLING WIN 7 ON AN SSD.
for those who are starting to get the kick out of SSD.

Increase System Speed
Disable indexing
Description: Indexing creates and maintains a database of file attributes. This can lead to multiple small writes when creating/deleting/modifying files. Searching for files will still work.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Services and Applications -> Services - > Right-Click Windows Search -> Startup type: Disabled -> OK

Disable defragmentation
Description: Defragmenting a hard disk's used space is only useful on mechanical disks with multi-millisecond latencies. Free-space defragmentation may be useful to SSDs, but this feature is not available in the default Windows Defragmenter.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Services and Applications -> Services - > Right-Click Disk Defragmenter -> Startup type: Disabled -> OK

Disable Write Caching
Description: There is no cache on the SSD, so there are no benefits to write caching. There are conflicting reports on whether this gains speed or not.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Device Manager -> Disk drives -> Right-Click STEC PATA -> Properties -> Policies Tab -> Uncheck Enable write caching -> OK

Configure Superfetch
Description: Frees up RAM by not preloading program files.
Instructions: On second glance, I would recommend leaving this one alone. However, there are some customizations that you can follow in the post below.

Firefox - Use memory cache instead of disk cache
Description: If you use Firefox, there's a way to write cached files to RAM instead of the hard disk. This is not only faster, but will significantly reduce writes to the SSD while using the browser.
Instructions: Open Firefox -> Type about:config into the address bar -> Enter -> double-click browser.cache.disk.enable to set the value to False -> Right-Click anywhere -> New -> Integer -> Preference Name "disk.cache.memory.capacity" -> value memory size in KB. Enter 32768 for 32MB, 65536 for 64MB, 131072 for 128MB, etc. -> restart Firefox

Free up extra drive space
Disable the Page File
Description: Eliminate writing memory to the SSD, free over 2GB of disk space. Warning - If you run out of memory the program you're using will crash.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Settings (Performance) -> Advanced Tab -> Change -> Uncheck Automatically manage -> No paging file -> Set -> OK -> Restart your computer
Alternatively, if you want to play it safer, you can set a custom size of 200MB min and max.

Disable System Restore
Description: Don't write backup copies of files when installing new programs or making system changes. Can free up between a few hundred MB to a couple GB. Warning - Although unlikely, if a driver installation corrupts your system, there won't be an automatic way to recover.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> System Protection Tab -> Configure -> Turn off system protection -> Delete -> OK

Disable Hibernate
Description: You may free up 1GB of space on the SSD if you have 1GB of memory, 2GB of space if you have 2GB memory. You will lose the hibernation feature which allows the equivalent of quick boots and shutdowns.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Type cmd -> Right-Click the cmd Icon -> Run as Administrator -> Type powercfg -h off -> Type exit

Rather than disable SuperFetch altogether, a better way would be to set it to cache boot files only. SuperFetch does have a purpose and just turning it completely off will only gain you some disk space, and that is only if you remember to delete the cached files after disabling it. Disabling SuperFetch will cause a busy machine to slow down as it swaps applications from disk to ram. Just because it's an SSD doesn't mean swapping won't occur or won't be noticeable.

Open regedit.exe and browse down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Find the EnablePrefetcher key on the right-hand pane, and change the value to one of these:

Disable Caching: 0
Cache Applications Only: 1
Cache Boot Files Only: 2
Cache Everything (default): 3

A restart is required before this takes any effect.
Also you can clear out the \Windows\Prefetch folder after making this change to
start with a fresh prefetcher cache, the next boot will probably be slower since
Windows will have to cache everything again.

 

[bendwolf]

bookmarked

 

[adrianlee]

Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Review
http://techgage.com/article/kingston_ssdnow_v_series_40gb/

 

[adrianlee]

Kingston SSDNow V+ SNV325-S2/128GB Review
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=445&Itemid=60

 

[adrianlee]

Kingston 512GB SSDNow V+
Without making too much fuss, Kingston Technology has turned the NAND capacity knob up and introduced an SSDNow V+ series drive boasting no less than 512GB worth of storage space. The high-capacity solid state drives has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND memory chips, a MTBF (mean time before failure) of 1 million hours and maximum sequential read/write speeds of 230/180 MB/s.

The 512GB SSDNow V+ model is backed by a three year warranty and can be found 'on its own' @ £989.34 / $1,598 / 1,127 Euro, or within an upgrade bundle (includes cloning software, 2.5-inch enclosure, 2.5-inch brackets) @ 1197.63 Euro / $1,698.

http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?shownews=32251&catid=2

 

[SimonLam]

wat is the difference between Intel 160GB 7.5mm version and 9mm version?

 

[persentio]

wat is the difference between Intel 160GB 7.5mm version and 9mm version?

The height of the drive...?

 

[SimonLam]

Thanks... i was trying hard to surf HWZ when shopping in HK..haha got my X25-M 160GB 7mm

 

[tarui04]

i thought all intel ssds have the spacer to make it 9.5mm thick? remove the spacer and it becomes thinner.

anyway, my ssd doesnt seem to be much faster than my previous HDD (wd 3200bekt or vt, wd caviar blue) while booting times are faster, app loading times doesnt seem that much faster leh...

 

[SimonLam]

didnt know..but mine is the retail version with the brackets..

 

[tarui04]

didnt know..but mine is the retail version with the brackets..

retail shld have the 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. as for the spacers, retail and oem has it. the black piece of plastic....

 

[SimonLam]

Oh ya...saw that black piece surrounding the drive. I havent open the magnetic shielding plastic yet. When i back home in SG, then open ba.

 

[glassdarkly]

Disable indexing

Disable defragmentation

Disable Write Caching

Configure Superfetch

Free up extra drive space
Disable the Page File
Description: Eliminate writing memory to the SSD, free over 2GB of disk space. Warning - If you run out of memory the program you're using will crash.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Settings (Performance) -> Advanced Tab -> Change -> Uncheck Automatically manage -> No paging file -> Set -> OK -> Restart your computer

1. It's better to configure indexing so that it's limited to the start menu/other important areas than to disable it completely. (Start >> type in indexing options, leave Start Menu active)

2. If you are using Windows 7, the OS should see your SSD and exclude it from Superfetch/Defrag by default. If you see the Super/Defrag services running, don't worry, they are only running for your mechanical drives.

3. Depending on the SSD manufacturer, some drives actually still have a cache (if I'm not wrong, Intel and OCZ drives have caches). HDD caches use volatile DRAM, which is still faster than non-volatile flash memory.

4. Disabling/reducing the pagefile to a minimal size is not a good idea unless you have large amounts of RAM (6+ GB). You should only do this if you find that your computer barely/never pages anything from memory. Also, if your computer does need the pagefile, resist the urge to move it onto a slower mechanical HDD. A much faster pagefile is one of the main advantages of an SSD.

 

[adrianlee]

OCZ Vertex LE SSDs listed, coming next week

While the Vertex 2 Pro has been doing the rounds in and around the interweb recently, it seems that the first SandForce-based solid state drive from OCZ to become available is actually the Vertex LE (Limited Edition). Found listed with February 5th as its ETA (estimated time of arrival), the Vertex LE has a 2.5-inch form factor (6.4mm thick), 100GB and 200GB capacities, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chip, TRIM supports and and delivers maximum read and write speeds of 270 MB/s and 250 MB/s, respectively (235 MB/s sustained writing).

The 100GB and 200GB Vertex LE SSDs are backed by a three-year warranty and have prices tags starting at 339 Euro and 733 Euro, respectively.

http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?shownews=32345&catid=2